Yadier Benjamin Molina (Spanish pronunciation: [ʝaˈdjer moˈlina]; born July 13, 1982), also known as "Yadi", is a Puerto Rican professional baseball catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). A two-time World Series champion, he is considered an essential figure in the Cardinals' postseason success, with nine appearances in his twelve seasons. Other awards realized include seven consecutive selections to the All Star Game, eight consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, and one Silver Slugger Award. He has accrued more than 1,400 hits, 100 home runs, 600 runs batted in, and a .283 batting average. He became the all-time Cardinals' leader in games caught with his 1,439th on April 8, 2016.[1] Coming from a baseball family, Molina grew up in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico. His father was an amateur second baseman in Puerto Rico, and his two older brothers, Bengie and José, were also major league catchers. Molina's pitch-handling and throwing skills originally caught the attention of scouts before being drafted. The Cardinals' fourth round selection in the 2000 MLB draft, he made his MLB debut four years later, quickly garnering a reputation for possessing one of the strongest and most accurate arms in the game. As of 2014, he had thrown out 44% of runners attempting a stolen base over his career and led active MLB catchers with 55 pickoffs.[2] Molina also formulates fielder positioning plans and complete pitching strategies to opposing hitters, earning a reputation as an on-field leader. Initially considered a light hitter, Molina significantly improved his offense and raised his career batting average from .248 in 2007. As of 2014, he had a .290 career batting average in the postseason. In 2006, he became just the third catcher to play in two World Series before age 25, following Johnny Bench and Yogi Berra. He also played for Puerto Rico in all three tournaments of the World Baseball Classic. Molina is under contract through 2017.